Feb 5, 2009
Eight Medals and a Bong
by Jerry Jaker
Fame, apparently, is fleeting. Infamy lasts a while longer.
Many Americans jumped to their feet and cheered in front of their TV sets this past summer when USA’s Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps touched the wall first to win his record-setting 8th gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. A few old timers like me remember well the seven gold medals collected in 1972 by American swimmer Mark Spitz and thinking that likely would never happen again. Never say never.
Recently when a British photographer captured Michael Phelps taking a hit on a bong pipe, he suddenly plummeted from the pedestal on which sports fans had placed him.
By his own admission it was a bone-headed thing to do. To his credit, he came clean and said he exercised incredibly bad judgment, was sorry, and it would never happen again. So now what?
There are lessons to be learned to be sure. For one, he has disappointed many of his admiring fans worldwide, and their respect could be hard to earn back. For another, he has risked lucrative commercial endorsements; that jury is still out as I write this. For many of us in prevention, we again think hard before hitching our wagon to celebrities to endorse any kind of message in support of our work our project, or healthy living in general. In the end, people with fame are still human and mistake prone. Plus, when you have a lot, you have a lot to lose.
Remember Latrell Sprewell and his anti-violence campaign message “Be a Man. Just Walk Away”, which ended with his being expelled by the NBA for choking his coach?
Or Gary Busey. Daryl Strawberry. Kirby Puckett. There are numerous other examples of celebrities doing things to disappoint, and it seems our forgiveness of their transgressions correlates directly to their candor and sincerity in owning what’s theirs, and commitment to make it right going forward from that point.
Those of us from the Watergate era still get incensed when work of skillful attorneys, publicists, and spin doctors replaces candor, admission of guilt and a genuine “I’m sorry”.
So, what next? What do you advise Mr. Phelps to do? And how does this all become a teachable moment in our prevention work?
-JJ
Many Americans jumped to their feet and cheered in front of their TV sets this past summer when USA’s Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps touched the wall first to win his record-setting 8th gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. A few old timers like me remember well the seven gold medals collected in 1972 by American swimmer Mark Spitz and thinking that likely would never happen again. Never say never.
Recently when a British photographer captured Michael Phelps taking a hit on a bong pipe, he suddenly plummeted from the pedestal on which sports fans had placed him.
By his own admission it was a bone-headed thing to do. To his credit, he came clean and said he exercised incredibly bad judgment, was sorry, and it would never happen again. So now what?
There are lessons to be learned to be sure. For one, he has disappointed many of his admiring fans worldwide, and their respect could be hard to earn back. For another, he has risked lucrative commercial endorsements; that jury is still out as I write this. For many of us in prevention, we again think hard before hitching our wagon to celebrities to endorse any kind of message in support of our work our project, or healthy living in general. In the end, people with fame are still human and mistake prone. Plus, when you have a lot, you have a lot to lose.
Remember Latrell Sprewell and his anti-violence campaign message “Be a Man. Just Walk Away”, which ended with his being expelled by the NBA for choking his coach?
Or Gary Busey. Daryl Strawberry. Kirby Puckett. There are numerous other examples of celebrities doing things to disappoint, and it seems our forgiveness of their transgressions correlates directly to their candor and sincerity in owning what’s theirs, and commitment to make it right going forward from that point.
Those of us from the Watergate era still get incensed when work of skillful attorneys, publicists, and spin doctors replaces candor, admission of guilt and a genuine “I’m sorry”.
So, what next? What do you advise Mr. Phelps to do? And how does this all become a teachable moment in our prevention work?
-JJ
Posted on February 5, 2009 - 3:00pm by Jerry Jaker
Teachable moment - how to follow up on headlines
Very cool, I really enjoyed
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